Four tugs, 27 owners, 2 past owners, 4 wannabes and friends gathered at Dave and Bicki Howell's, Nellie D. #63, on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay's Church Creek for the annual East Coast Rendezvous. This year's event was co-hosted by John and Jeanne Niccolls, Knock Off #66. Everyone pitched in, bringing an amazing array of food, salty stories, and eclectic items for the silent auction.
As usual a very popular activity was tug inspections and just chatting about everything Victory Tug. Even though the Howells are great planners, they couldn't control the weather and the water creeping into their front yard, due to unusual winds and tides. This called for quick action. It gave new meaning to the Howell's exclusive waterfront campsites and forced campers to go to Plan B.
Tug talk discussions continued into the wee hours. Bill Irwin, Callisto #19, explained how he coveted Knock Off's mast seen at last year's rendezvous and he spent the winter building his own. (You can see photos of the new mast at: lnvtblog.blogspot.com). Other riveting topics included the perennial favorites of fuel tanks, treating wood, polishing brass, tea stains, water tight hatches, thru hulls and bulwark doors.
Sunday morning dawned and captains were anxious to get underway. A front had passed through overnight and high pressure brought cooler temperatures with brisk winds. The waters on the Chesapeake would be a bit choppy, but nothing an LNVT couldn't handle with ease. Special thanks to the Niccolls and Howells for hosting this event. Photo below shows Knock Off #66 heading home after the rendezvous.
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